Leap! (2016)

An orphan girl dreams of becoming a ballerina and flees her rural Brittany for Paris, where she passes for someone else and accedes to the position of pupil at the Grand Opera house.

Directors:

Eric Summer (as Éric Summer), Éric Warin

Writers:

Eric Summer (original idea) (as Éric Summer), Eric Summer (original story) (as Éric Summer)

Stars:

Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Carly Rae Jepsen

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Elle Fanning	...	Felicie (voice)
Dane DeHaan	...	Victor (voice)
Carly Rae Jepsen	...	Odette (voice)
Maddie Ziegler	...	Camille (voice)
Terrence Scammell	...	Mérante / Postman (voice) (as Terence Scammel)
Tamir Kapelian	...	Rudolph / Mathurin (voice)
Julie Khaner	...	Regine (voice)
Joe Sheridan	...	Director of Opera (voice)
Elana Dunkelman	...	Dora / Rosita (voice) (as Elena Dunkleman)
Shoshana Sperling	...	Nora (voice) (as Soshana Sperling)
Jamie Watson	...	Greasy Guard / Janitor (voice)
Bronwen Mantel	...	Mother Superior (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mel Brooks	...	(voice)
Kate McKinnon	...	Regine / Mother Superior / Felicie's Mother (voice)
Nat Wolff	...	Victor (voice)

Storyline

An orphan girl dreams of becoming a ballerina and flees her rural Brittany for Paris, where she passes for someone else and accedes to the position of pupil at the Grand Opera house.

---

Plot Keywords:

ballerina | orphan girl | orphan | brittany | cgi animation | 

---

Taglines:

Never give up on your dreams

---

Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Musical

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some impolite humor, and action

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Canada] Official site [France]

Country:

Canada France

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 August 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Leap!

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quad Productions, Main Journey, Caramel Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Félicie, voiced by Elle Fanning, competes for the lead role in the ballet The Nutcracker. Fanning previously appeared in The Nutcracker in 3D (2010).

---

Goofs

In the movie, it shows both (in Paris) a nearly completed Statue of Liberty and the start of the Eiffel Tower construction. In reality, these two world famous landmarks were never in the same continent at the same time. The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States in 1886, before the start of the Eiffel Tower construction, which commenced in 1887 (and completed in 1889). Both were constructed by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel. But Alexandre-Gustave only started construction work on the tower baring his name, after the Statue of Liberty has been shipped to the United States.

---

Connections

Referenced in The 89th Annual Academy Awards (2017)

---

Soundtracks

Unstoppable
Written by Matías Mora and Mia Minichiello
Performed by Camila Mora-Scheihing (as Camila Mora)
String arrangement by Klaus Badelt and Christopher Carmichael
Produced by Matías Mora
Mixed by Keith Armstrong at Pietown Sound

User Reviews

A delightful underdog story.

Something tells me there's more to the film than just a wannabe ballerina setting out to achieve her dreams. I could be very wrong but I believe his to be a personal accomplishment for French director/screenplay writer Eric Summer who comes from Brittany himself, where this story starts at an orphanage in 1879.

Enlisting the talent of French animator who was partly responsible for one of my favourite animated movies, Belleville Rendez-vous, Éric Warin sits alongside Summer in the director's chair and what they give us is a delightful underdog story.

The focus of the story is on Félicie, voiced by Elle Fanning, an ambitious yet rebellious orphan girl who dreams of becoming a dancer, constantly attempting to flee the orphanage to Paris, in pursuit of her ambition.

She's not alone in either dream-chasing or escaping the orphanage. Victor, voiced by Dane DeHaan, an obvious admirer of hers also wishes to leave to become a famous inventor, so the two of them embark on an adventure finally reaching Paris and with various strokes of good fortunate, end up where they both want to be.

The voices don't necessarily match their characters, DeHaan being far to old (apologies, 30 isn't old, but...) to voice a teenage orphan. Pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen does a fine job of voicing broken ballerina, Odette, but I'm most impressed with Sia's music video dancing star, Maddie Ziegler, voicing the spoilt, stuck-up Camille.

It has all the ingredients of a simple yet pleasing underdog story with some impressive and enticing animation. The dances themselves are superbly gracefully and the details are brilliant. There's troublesome emotions, difficult choices and quite a few triumphs with a clear message of never giving up and what ever you do, do it with heart.

It's predictable but that's forgivable being a children's film. It's loaded with touching gestures and typical twists that make the film memorable but is equally loaded with unnecessary silliness and feels a little rushed in places, possibly to keep children's attention.

It's not a musical but the soundtrack that accompanies the film really stands out with some great tracks from Magical Thinker, Chantal Kreviazuk and Camila Mora. Klaus Badelt does a graceful and enchanting score that does well to stand alone from Tchaikovsky's ballet greats of Swan Lake and the Nutcracker.

It's good sign not hearing any disturbances for the young audience and my God-Daughter seemed to enjoy it giving a little dance at the end. It's far from perfect but there's some great scenes and you can see the effort was put in. It's good light-hearted entertainment for the whole family.

Running Time: 8 The Cast: 6 Performance: 7 Direction: 7 Story: 8 Script: 7 Creativity: 8 Soundtrack: 9 Job Description: 9 The Extra Bonus Points: 0

69% 7/10